


Hopeless/Firewhiskey/Practical

by Nahiel



Series: Playlist Roulette [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drunkenness, F/M, I don't think, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Unrequited Love, i'm not actually mean to ginny in this one, she's very practical, unrequited Harry/Ron/Hermione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 19:37:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20087653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nahiel/pseuds/Nahiel
Summary: A trio of short snippets about Harry's relationship with Ron and Hermione, and his relationship with Ginny.





	1. Hopeless

Harry fought the urge to cry. It wouldn’t do any good. He couldn’t. Crying would… it would make his head hurt as much as his heart, and maybe that was what he wanted. He cried anyway, even though he tried his hardest not to.

They were kissing. And that was great, really. That was wonderful. Ron and Hermione would make a great couple! He could see their children, years from now, in his mind’s eye. They would be happy together. It had always been leading to this, hadn’t it? It didn’t matter what he wanted, because the two of them were happy together.

He’d never had a chance. He knew that. He’d always known that. He needed to let this go. Triads were… not a thing in the wizarding world, anyway. Hell, they weren’t even much of a thing in the Muggle world. Ron and Hermione would have been shocked and horrified to find out what, exactly, Harry had pictured for their future. He had to move on from this.

But… but he’d thought that maybe. Even though it wouldn’t have been what anyone would have called normal, he’d hoped that maybe they might have felt the same way about him. But they hadn’t. They didn’t. They loved each other, and neither one of them so much as noticed him. And that was fine. Really, it was fine.

They were happy. They were in love, and Harry knew that he could move on. He could be happy. He could learn to forget about them, and he could be in love on his own. He could.

Still…

He couldn’t tear himself away from the sight of them kissing. How much he would have liked to be there with them… No. He had to stop. This wasn’t doing anybody any good. He would only break his own heart if he kept staring like this. He had to… he had to move on.

Ginny was waiting when he forced himself to turn away. He turned away, and smiled at Ginny. She smiled back, and ran to meet him.

Harry could learn to be happy with her. She was a great person, and she would love him. He had no doubt.


	2. Firewhiskey

How had it come to this?

The Firewhiskey was bitter as he drank it, it burned as it slid down his throat. He hated the sensation, the taste of it. But he couldn’t… he couldn’t think of anything else to do. How had he let things get to this point? It was all his fault, wasn’t it? She was right. He was just less invested in this relationship than she was.

He took another drink. He was the reason it had come to this. He was a monster. He should be ashamed of himself. Why had he married her in the first place? He knew that he didn’t love her. He loved somebody else. He always had. Ginny didn’t deserve this. She was a good person. A good wife. A good mother. Why couldn’t he just love her the way that she wanted, the way that she deserved?

“Harry?” And now he was hallucinating. Thinking she’d come after him. Why would she do that? She didn’t love him anymore, and it was entirely his fault. Merlin, he was every bit as useless as the Dursleys had always warned him he’d be. And now he was even drinking like the Dursleys had accused his parents of doing. Could he be any more pathetic?

Probably.

He took another drink.

“Harry James Potter!” Ginny’s voice was sharp and angry, and Harry realized then that she actually had followed him to the bar. She was standing next to him, her hands on her hips, her eyes bright with fire. “You put that drink down right now and talk to me, damn you!” she snarled.

Harry let the drink settle on the table. “Sorry,” he whispered, feeling horribly ashamed of himself. What was he, that he couldn’t even look at his wife when she came to fetch him from the bar? What kind of man was he, that he had to make his pregnant wife fetch him from a bar in the first place?

“I’m not stupid, you know,” she said quietly, conversationally as she sat down next to him. “I know that I wasn’t your first choice. I know that I wasn’t even your second choice. And that’s okay, Harry. I don’t blame you for that.”

Harry stared down at the drink in his hands and felt even worse. He hadn’t realized that she knew. He’d never wanted to put her through that. He didn’t… she was his best friend, now. He didn’t love her, but he liked her quite a lot. She didn’t deserve an ass like him. She deserved so much more. “I’m sorry, Ginny,” he whispered.

“I’m not.” She grinned at him, fierce and wild when he looked up at her through startled eyes. “I knew what I was getting into with you, Harry James Potter, and I was ready for it. I know that you don’t love me like you think you should, and that’s okay. I love you anyway, and I’m happy to be with you. So put that damned Firewhiskey down and come home.” She stared at him, one eyebrow quirked, daring him to argue.

He couldn’t. How could he? “Yes, ma’am.” He followed her home, and didn’t regret it at all.


	3. Practical

There weren’t many women who would put up with what she did, Ginny mused as she settled Harry into bed. He was more than a little drunk, Merlin knew how many Firewhiskeys he’d had before she’d gotten to him. There weren’t many women who would have married a man who didn’t love them.

There weren’t many women who were as smart as she was, either. She wasn’t stupid. She’d known when she’d agreed to marry him that he didn’t love her like that. And that was okay, because she did love him like that, and she was more than willing to wait. She hoped, of course, that one day he might love her, but was always willing to acknowledge that there was every chance that he wouldn’t. She could be his friend. She could be the mother of his children. She might never be the love of his life, but she’d always be very important to him.

“Ginny?” Harry slurred, and stared up at her through vacant eyes. “You deserve so much better.”

She sighed, rolled her eyes, and leaned down to press a kiss against his lips. “I don’t care what I deserve. You’re what I want, and my mother told me to never give up on what I want.”

Harry smiled at her, then drifted off to sleep. She thought that maybe he might even be content.

She knew that there weren’t many women who would be as practical as she’d been. She knew that she might never have everything that she wanted. But she could have something, and that was all that she needed. And if, one day, he found somebody that he did genuinely love like that, somebody that loved him back, she’d gladly let him go.

Because she loved him, and that's what love was. Wanting what was best for the one you loved.


End file.
